WIN WHERE YOUR FEET ARE
For any of us who want to win in some important area of life, it’s not hard to get caught up in some alluring vision of the future - of where it is we want to go and what it is we want to do. There's value in clarifying that vision, of course, but dreaming about and dwelling on our big moments to come can be dangerous, too. It can distract us from the important work we're responsible for here today.
The problem with today is that for most of us, it looks pretty boring. I'm guessing that for you, today may not have much to offer. Most days are occupied more by the mundane and the monotonous than by the memorable. That’s one reason it’s easy to get lost dreaming about and dwelling on the future. But for each of us - including for you - today matters. What you choose to do here, where your feet are today, plays a big part in what you're capable of creating for tomorrow.
So while most people are diminishing the value of today's to-do list, it's important to see that winning requires us to do something different. It requires us to do what champions do. Champions recognize that today is an opportunity to compete and win. It's an opportunity to prepare ourselves for those big moments that are to come, and to validate once again - even when it's mundane or monotonous - who we are and what we’re all about.
Champions recognize that today is an opportunity to compete and win. It's an opportunity to prepare ourselves for those big moments that are to come, and to validate once again - even when it's mundane or monotonous - who we are and what we’re all about.
This is how champions in any are of life build the future they've envisioned. Consider the champion athlete. Of course, every athlete wants to play their best on game day. If you’re an athlete, I’m sure you've probably spent some time dreaming about or dwelling on your upcoming performance. You can bet your opponent has, too. But winning on game day won’t be determined by who’s spent the most time between now and then envisioning their achievement. Winning will be determined by who’s spent the most time between now and then earning it. That makes every day between now and then - including this one - valuable and significant.
Embracing that process-oriented mindset elevates the importance of even the most menial tasks on your to-do list, and encourages you to win where your feet are - to give your very best to whatever’s in front of you, right here and right now. Don’t worry about the future. Just win this day. This hour. This moment. This practice. This assignment. This drill. This conversation. This meeting. This rep.
Your success is built brick by brick, one winning choice at a time. And while every opportunity we take advantage of has value, I’d argue that the bricks we lay each day are proportional, at least in some ways, to the monotony and mundanity of the work we’ve chosen to embrace with excellence. There’s more benefit to that work that doesn’t get recognized or celebrated because that’s the work so many others have chosen to ignore.
Ultimately, I hope you can see for yourself that even if the outcome you’re after is nothing more than a vision in your future, today still matters. The work others might view as boring or insignificant, you need to recognize as a valuable opportunity to be taken advantage of. Today is a chance for you to do what champions do. To win where your feet are. To prepare yourself for those big moments to come. And to validate once again who you are and what you’re all about.